Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings and Clinical Associations in 52 Dogs with Suspected Ischemic Myelopathy

Abstract

The severity of signs on presentation is associated with the presence and the extent of the lesion on MRI.

Clinical Outcomes of Suspected Ischemic Myelopathy in Cats

“…In dogs, many cases of ischemic myelopathy have been reported [2,5,8,9,17], whereas only 9 reports (14 total cases) have been documented in cats [1, 3, 6, 12-14, 19, 24, 25]. We considered that differences in the incidences of ischemic myelopathy between cats and dogs reflect the following facts: the lower incidence of intervertebral disk disease in cats than in dogs [11,15]; and the most common cause of ischemic myelopathy is fibrocartilaginous embolism that presents histochemical properties identical to those of the nucleus pulposus of the intervertebral disk [16].…”

“…Ischemic myelopathy has been described in several species, including humans [7,18,20], dogs [2,5,8,9,17], horses [22], pigs [23], sheep [10], turkeys [21], and cats [1, 3, 6, 12-14, 19, 24, 25]. In humans, ischemic myelopathy may be caused by atherosclerosis, vasculitis, embolism, infection, surgery, or trauma [18].…”

“…MRI is helpful in supporting the antemortem diagnosis of ischemic myelopathy because the procedure, in addition to excluding the other etiologies of myelopathy, may reveal signal intensity changes that are compatible with ischemic myelopathy [2, 7, PC, Persian cat; DSH, domestic shorthaired cat; yr, years; mth, months; PLs, pelvic limbs; HS, Horner syndrome; +, existence; -, loss; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; C, cervical; T, thoracic; L, lumbar. 9,11,17,20]. In humans, however, the affected site may not show any abnormality on MRI scans [7,18,20].…”

“…The potential etiologies of spinal lesions should be ruled out by performing radiographies, ultrasound examinations, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analyses, myelographies, computed tomographies, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) [8,18]. MRI is helpful in supporting the antemortem diagnosis of ischemic myelopathy because the procedure, in addition to excluding the other etiologies of myelopathy, may reveal signal intensity changes that are compatible with ischemic myelopathy [2,7,9,11,17,20]. The aim of this study was to examine the clinical outcomes of cats with suspected ischemic myelopathy.…”

“…The MRI diagnosis of suspected ischemic myelopathy was made based on the imaging criteria for suspected/definite ischemic myelopathy in humans [7,20], dogs [2,9,17], and cats [12][13][14]. These criteria included the presence of intramedullary lesions that involved hyperintense spinal cord gray matter on T2WIs, hypointense to isointense spinal cord gray matter on T1WIs, and unenhanced to slightly enhanced spinal cord gray matter on postcontrast T1WIs.…”